Performance and Measurement

Summary

Surrey, one of the most densely populated and urbanised counties, shares its borders with five other policing areas including the Greater London Authority. The force covers some of the busiest stretches of motorway in Europe, and the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow will add to road congestion. Analysis has revealed that 8% of Surrey’s criminals live in London and are responsible for 15% of the county’s crime. The mixture of urban and rural areas provides widely differing contexts to policing services. The force is committed to the successful delivery of Neighbourhood Policing and is at the forefront of the development of workforce modernisation.

HMIC has recently conducted the first phase of a three-year programme of inspection activity within Surrey, specifically assessing how the force is delivering Neighbourhood Policing, Performance Management and Protecting Vulnerable People. Across all three areas, the force has either maintained or improved on an already satisfactory level of service to the public.

The police authority, following wide consultation with both the force and the public, set a number of priorities for 2006/07. These included public satisfaction rates; reductions in domestic burglary and vehicle crime; an increase in sanction detection rates; reductions in anti-social driving and the number of deaths and serious injuries on Surrey’s roads; cautions and charges for the supply of drugs; neighbourhood priorities; police operations and visibility; and sickness levels. Some 16 targets were achieved; two that were not met related to vehicle crime and road traffic casualties.

The 2006 HMIC baseline assessment of the force revealed no major causes of concern, although it did identify a number of areas for improvement. Recent reassessment shows that the force has improved performance by recognising and responding to the HMIC evaluation within a project framework.

Key achievements for the force during 2006/07 are significant increases in sanction detections, improved customer satisfaction and the development of workforce modernisation. Together with the effective roll-out of Neighbourhood Policing, these improvements continue to position Surrey as a very safe place in which both to live and to work.

The main challenge for the force is to sustain performance against a significant ‘rising bar’, particularly in respect of providing protective services. The force and Authority have commissioned a review of support services in order to identify business improvements and efficiencies in this area while maintaining the ability to deliver the force strategy and vision.